Piston



May 12, 1925.

PIsToN Filed May 17. 1924 R. R. TEETOR Patented May l2, 1925.

PATENT oFF-lcs.

RALPH TEE'ron, or HAGERsToWN, INDIANA. l

PISTON.

Application filed Hay 17, 1924. Serial No. 713,995.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, RALPH R. TEEToR, a citizen of the United States,v residing at Hagerstown, in the county of Wayne and the State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pis- A.tons, of which the following is a full, clear,l

concise, and exact description.

My invention relates tol mechanism employing cylinders and pistons therein lwhich are in reciprocating relation. The invention has for its object the construction of a piston which will expand and contract throughout its length transversely thereof to maintain its sliding fit with and within the bore of the enclosing cylinder.

In accordance Awith my invention, the body` member of the piston-that member with which the piston rod or pitman is con-- nected-has a sleeve of spring'vmaterial such as cast iron or steel, or other sufficiently resilient metal, assembled therewith, this sleeve being split from end to end to 'enable it to be transversely expansible and contractible throughout its length with respect to the piston body member to maintain its tit within the bore of the cylinder that contains the piston.

The invention will be more fully explained in connection with the accompanying drawing in which- Fig. 1 is an axial sectional of the pre'- ferred form of piston and a portion of the enclosing cylinder;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the piston;

Fig. 3 is a plan view; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a part of the piston sleeve with the slit thereln widened to illustrate the preferred formation thereof. y

The cylinder, or hollow member, is of any suitable shape and has a cylindrical bore which receives my improved piston.

The piston has a bodv member 2 that affords a means of assem ling the connecting rod or pitman 3 ywith the piston, this member being continued to form a piston end wall 4.' In the construction shown the pitman is assembled with the piston by means of the pitman wrist pin 5 received vtween the sleeve and cylinder.

in the bearings carried by thev piston body. The piston also includes a cylindrical sleeve 7 of spring material, such as cast iron, steel, or other sutlieiently resilient metal, formed with an'internal annular shoulder 8 intermediate its ends. The sleeve 7 has a slit 9 therethrough which splits the sleeve from end to end to permit the sleeve to expand and contract throughout its length transversely of thesleeve, the Lsleeve being contracted within a suitable limit and un-. der all working conditions by the cylinder to always maintain suitable working lit be- Suicient lateral clearance exists between the piston sleeve and piston body to permit of greater contraction ofthe cylinder. The sleeve,

thus formed, may be assembled with the y piston body by means of a nut l1 screwed upon this body against ashoulder 12 into close proximity with the sleeveshoulder 8 to maintain this shoulder upon its seat 10. The annular gap between the nut l1 and the shoulder 10 is slightly wider than the shoulder so that the piston sleeve is free to contract and expand at the slee-ve shoulder as well as elsewhere.

In order to obstruct the flow of fluid lengthwise of the piston through the slit 9, I make this slitl zigzag with the apposed margins of the intermediate section 9" of the slit substantially in contact and in a plane perpendicular to the axis ofthe sleeve. InA the preferred embodiment of the invention, the slit section 9 is formed through the shoulder 8 as indicated in Fig. 4.

The piston of my invention needs no packing rings, though the invention is not to be limited to the absence thereof. The piston finds very useful employment `the construction of engines, though it is not to be limited to much use.

Changes may readily be made without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim The combination with a hollow member having a cylindrical bore; f a piston including a body member and a cylindrical sleeve of spring material in sliding fit with the hollow member within its bore, said sleeve havingan internal shoulder formed l at. an intermediate part thereofv seated upon the body member of thepiston; a nut 5 screwed upon the piston body member into close but non-clamping relation with said shoulder 'to retain said shoulder close to its seat, said sleeve being split lengthwise to make it transversely expansible and contraetible with respect to said body member 10 to maintain its fit with said hollow member. In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name.

RALPH R. TEETOR. 

